The investment world can be a scary place, especially for inexperienced investors. Meanwhile, many savvy investors fall into the dangerous trap of believing they are safe. However, the fact is that with volatile markets comes an increased opportunity for criminals to take advantage of even the savviest of investors. One couple — we’ll call them…
Continue reading ›“Insider trading” is one of the most widely-recognizable terms in the complex financial industry — but it is one that is often misunderstood, as well. Though some insider trading is a form of broker misconduct, it is also frequently committed by firms’ top management. An article published on August 18, 2011, “Insider Trading: CNBC Explains,”…
Continue reading ›John A. “Jack” Grant, a former stockbroker, was barred from associating with investment advisers, brokers and dealers in 1988, following an action that accused him of selling unregistered securities and misappropriated funds totaling $5,500,000. Grant, however, did not withdrawal from the securities business and continued advising small business and individuals on their investments and management…
Continue reading ›Complaints were filed with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI in connection to a group of 30 New Zealand investors who lost nearly $7 million. The investors claim to have lost $6.7 million investing with Tony Lusby. Lusby, a Hamilton, New Zealand, man who is now living in Panama, admits that the money is…
Continue reading ›Galleon Group LLC ex-hedge fund trader Craig Drimal pleaded guilty to six counts of conspiracy and securities fraud in April. He has now been sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison. Drimal admitted to insider trading based on information from lawyers at Ropes & Gray LLP, a firm based in Boston. The transactions involved Axcan Pharma…
Continue reading ›High-frequency trading — a process in which computer algorithms are used to trade shares, foreign exchange and derivatives at superfast speeds — earns profits by extricating tiny price differences thousands of times a day, across trading platforms. The algorithms being used are treated by their owners as top secret; in fact, many have taken legal…
Continue reading ›According to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority’s “Disciplinary and Other FINRA Actions” report for August 2011, Bluechip Securities Inc. and Muhammad Akram Khan were disciplined and fined. Bluechip was censured and fined the amount of $15,000, while Khan was suspended from association with FINRA members for 18 months and fined $385,000. Both Khan and the…
Continue reading ›Former broker Debbie Saleh and her former employer, Wedbush Inc., must pay $2.9 million to Southern California investor Rick Cooper. Saleh drained Cooper’s account between 2004 and 2009 through a process called “churning.” The churning generated a significant amount in commissions through the unauthorized purchasing and selling of annuities. According to the arbitration panel, Saleh’s…
Continue reading ›Roy Fluker Jr. was finally sentenced to 15 years in federal prison in connection with an investment and mortgage fraud scheme, something that should have taken place last December. Fluker’s son, Roy Fluker III, and daughter, Ronnanita Fluker, are already serving eight-year prison terms for the scheme. Fluker Jr., who failed to appear for sentencing…
Continue reading ›Ryan Kimura, a former Morgan Stanley Dean Witter stockbroker in Honolulu, Hawaii, was sentenced to 57 months in prison. In addition, he will pay $1.5 million to Morgan Stanley and over $500,000 plus interest to the Internal Revenue Service. Payment to the IRS will cover tax losses from 2000-2007. Kimura was charged with money laundering,…
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